The Very Best of Rod Stewart [Warner Bros.]The Story So Far: The Very Best of Rod StewartThe Story So FarThe Definitive Rod StewartVagabond Heart [Bonus Track]Some Guys Have All the Luck: Best Of Rod Stewart

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General CommentI heard this song when I came back from Desert Storm in '91. I was 23 and had gotten married to a 19 yr old girl 6 months before I left. For me he is a soldier sent off to war (most likely Vietnam) who is thinking of his young love back home. He is in the middle of chaos and only fate will determine if he makes it home or not and he tries not to allow himself to feel anything rather than feel love, fear, etc. Thus he 'pulls down the handle of the slot machine with no expression on his face" hoping he will not be killed and make it to the shore where he will get on the ship that will carry him back to his loved one waiting for him in her thin blue jeans in his hometown steel town. Extremely powerful song for people who have been sent off to war leaving loved ones behind.

General Commentits not a very confusing song to get...on Australian television he admits that the song has a deeper, darker meaning and that the persona in the song indeed kills himself...THATS his plan..check the videoclip...and think deeper all you people who believe its a typical song about 'moving on'...that is all

Song MeaningI think Penpoint has the right interpretation; it is a beautiful song for a soldier overseas "where the ocean meets the sky." And look at how apropos the other imagery is: "running undercover of a helicopter blade" = self-evident / "love may still be alive ... where their downing only deer" = not much love in war where you are shooting people not just deer hunting / "photographs and kerosene light up my darkness" = a soldier looking at pictures under the light of a kerosene lamp. Okay, you get the point. And here is a video of a live performance by the man himself where he dedicates this song to the soldiers: youtube.com/…